


This Unruly Heart Of Mine

by alltheglowingeyes



Series: PJO/HoO/ToA One Shots [18]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Coming Out, Gen, Hazel Levesque is a Good Sibling, Nico di Angelo Needs a Hug, Pre-The Trials of Apollo, Sibling Bonding, Supportive Hazel Levesque
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26496613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltheglowingeyes/pseuds/alltheglowingeyes
Summary: Nico comes out to Hazel.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Hazel Levesque
Series: PJO/HoO/ToA One Shots [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861492
Comments: 8
Kudos: 98





	This Unruly Heart Of Mine

**Author's Note:**

> Quick one-shot I had written a while back. The title is based on the song Unruly Heart from the musical The Prom heh. I feel like majority of my stories have song references for titles but oop.
> 
> Anyways, I'm working on other things to, but I wanted to post this before I forgot to lol.
> 
> This story is also posted on fanfiction.net under the same username.
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> \- alltheglowingeyes

Coming out to Hazel was different than coming out to other campers.

With Percy and Annabeth, it was almost on a whim that Nico did so. And yet, he wasn’t remotely as scared as he was now as he watched Hazel bustle around the Hades Cabin, talking about some crazy story involving Dakota, a rabbit, and a gallon of Sunkist. Nico twisted the skull ring on his finger, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot as he took a steadying breath. He wanted to just spit it out right then and there, but he couldn't do it. He wanted to do it right, sitting down and talking to her face-to-face.

“Hazel? Uh, can we talk about something important?” he asked, before realizing he just cut off her story. “Er, sorry. You can finish your story first.”

Hazel studied his face, her golden eyes glittering with curiosity. “Ah, the story can wait. We can talk right now, if you want?”

Nico hesitated. He was tempted to just brush it off and put it off for Hazel’s next visit, but he forced himself to stay strong. He was well aware that communications between the Camps had been going downhill since the war, so there was no telling when Hazel would next be able to come by for a visit. It was now or never.

Nico sat down on his bed, Hazel following in suit. A silence settled between the two of them for a few seconds. Hazel waited for Nico to start talking, but when he didn’t show any signs of planning to fill the silence, Hazel decided to take it in her own hands. 

“So, how have things been around Camp? Percy told me that you’ve been helping coach younger kids in swordsmanship, right?” she said, shooting him a lopsided smile. Nico still felt tense, but nonetheless nodded and forced himself to humor the small talk.

“Percy roped me in. I didn’t want to at first, but it’s actually been pretty cool.” He glanced at Hazel, the corners of his lips twitching upwards, “Don’t tell him I said that. His ego doesn’t need the satisfaction of being right.”

Hazel laughed, a clear sound that drew out some more of the tension from Nico as he allowed himself a full smile this time. However, he sobered up quickly, remembering what he wanted to talk about. Hazel frowned at his sudden change in mood, placing a tentative hand over Nico’s own. 

“Nico, what’s going on?” she murmured, trying in vain to study Nico’s face for any sign of what was bothering him. Nico swallowed, shifting anxiously and doing his best to fight the urge to yank his hand away.

“I-I need to tell you something. But first, I need you to know that I love you, Hazel. You have been the best sister I could have asked for, and I’m so grateful that you were- are in my life,” he mumbled, blinking rapidly. Nico realized it wasn’t too late to back out, but he also knew he couldn’t keep hiding this integral part of himself from his sister. 

Meanwhile, Hazel knit her brows in concern, fingers tapping on the back of Nico’s hand. “Why are you talking like that? You’re scaring me, Nico…”

Nico cleared his throat, focusing on taking in a deep breath before speaking up slowly and carefully. “Hazel, I’m g- I’m… I like boys,” he spat out, his stomach turning slightly. He felt a slight flush of shame at the feeling of being unable to say the word  _ gay _ . It was too hard to say it outloud. As silence filled the cabin, Nico felt ready to scream or just pass out. It was horrible, the waiting, as he kept his gaze on the ground. Tears pricked at his eyes as his mind was running wild.

_ She’s going to hate you, you fucking idiot _ , he thought bitterly to himself.  _ You should’ve waited longer. There was no need to ruin everything like this. She’s going to leave you just like Bianca. Why can’t you get anything right? Why- _

He was snapped out of his thoughts as he felt Hazel’s arms wrap around him. For a moment, he was tense, but almost immediately he proceeded to melt into his sister’s arms, sobs escaping his lips as he curled up next to his little sister.

“Oh, Nico. Please don’t cry. It’s ok,” she murmured, moving her hand to brush away tears that he didn’t realize he had shed. He held on tighter to his sister, afraid that any minute she would just leave him.

They stayed like this for a few more minutes, Hazel alternating between rubbing his back soothingly and brushing away stray tears, as Nico mumbled apologies consistently, alternating between Italian and English in his state of distress. 

Finally, Nico managed to collect himself long enough to choke out quietly, “Do you hate me?”

Hazel shook her head immediately, her curls brushing against Nico’s face as she sat him up straight, tilting his head so they were looking at each other. “Nico, you’re my brother. I could never hate you, I swear.”

Nico sniffled, rubbing his eyes as he curled in on himself slightly. “That doesn’t mean anything though. I don’t like this about myself. You don’t have to... pretend to accept it.”

Hazel took a shaky breath, once again gently taking Nico’s hand in her own. “I’m not- I still have a lot of learning to do, Nico. I won’t pretend that I can completely understand this or accept it, but I genuinely care about you with my whole heart, Nico. And, well, I’m ready to put the effort in to understand you better and get more in tune with modern views on things like this. But no matter what, you are my big brother. You’ve proved how much you care about me in the past, and I promise I care about you the same way. So it might take me some time to fully process, but you’ll always be my brother, and I’m so grateful that you trusted me enough to tell me this.”

Nico felt tears well up in his eyes again, blinking rapidly as he mouthed  _ thank you _ . He leaned back into another one of Hazel’s hugs, feeling a little bit of hope break through the overwhelming internalized hatred and sorrow that he held onto for so long. 

“I do have one question as of right now, though,” Hazel whispered softly. Nico nodded at her and she asked, “Who else knows? Specifically, uh… does Reyna know, by any chance?”

Nico sniffled, blinking slightly. “Um… Percy and Annabeth know because I-” his voice caught in his throat. “...it’s a bit of a story. Jason… he found out in Croatia, when we were getting Diocletian’s sceptre because Cupid forced me to-to tell him. And Reyna and Coach Hedge know because of, uh, something that happened on the quest.”

He was sure Hazel had more questions, specifically about Reyna and Coach, but she didn’t pry. Nico was thankful, as he wasn’t quite ready to tell her about what he did to Bryce ( _ one thing at a time _ ). 

Hazel smiled at her brother softly. “I was asking because Reyna seemed to recently take it upon herself to update my views on different movements and lifestyles. I, well, as I said, I’m not too familiar with everything yet, but I have a feeling it was her way of making it easier for you and me.”

Nico worried his lip, nodding along. He made a mental note to thank Reyna later. “Still, thank you for not getting mad, for trying to make it work.”

Hazel’s smile grew as she straightened out his hair and brushed away a few more stray tears. “Thank  _ you _ for telling me, big brother. I’m proud of you.”

The dinner conch rang in the distance, a little bit of the solemn tension in the air dissipating as Nico returned a small smile, giving Hazel a quick peck on the cheek. “Let’s get some dinner now, ok? I would rather not have to sit alone with Percy and Jason again.”

Hazel laughed, and Nico quietly joined in as the two made their way out of the cabin and to the pavilion. It wasn’t going to be an instantaneous acceptance; Hazel still had a lot to understand in order to fully come to terms with Nico’s sexuality, as did Nico himself. But for the rest of the evening, they filled their time with laughter and good memories, both of the Underworld siblings parting with a flicker of warmth growing in their hearts.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this. This is just a weird ramble-y thought, but I had Hazel be a little behind in acceptance in this story (that probably didn't make any sense lol). I just think that she would still need some time to understand what modern views are about communities like LGBT+, but she loves Nico so she's willing to try. That's my personal opinion on it though lmao, idk.
> 
> If you have any requests or headcanons you want me to write, feel free to leave them in the comments! I'll try to get to them ASAP. Or, just let me know what you thought of this.
> 
> You can follow me on my tumblr @alltheglowingeyess for updates on multichapter fics/a compiled list of my one-shots/random Riordanverse shit, or to just say hi. :)


End file.
